Granted, it would be nice if this particular new show — ABC's mystery/comedy Castle —felt just a little bit more, well, new, rather than coming across as a belated ABC attempt to board the procedural gravy train.

Still, there's clearly life left in the format, and if it can provide the boost that lifts Nathan Fillion from Firefly cult favorite to mass-appeal TV star, then that's reason enough to root for Castle's success.

Last seen on ABC as Katherine's husband in Desperate Housewives, Fillion returns to the network fold as Richard Castle, a rich, famous, man-about-town mystery writer who has grown bored with his most popular character and is seeking inspiration.

He finds it in NYPD Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic from The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice). She is investigating a series of murders patterned after one of Castle's books.

You can see where we're headed, as the two fight, flirt and eventually become partners, more reluctantly on her part than his. Think Bones and The Mentalist.

Or better yet, go further back to Remington Steele's serious female crime-fighter partnered with high-spirited male amateur, and you have the general idea.

Such shows run on the appeal of their stars, and on that front, ABC has chosen well.

Like the best actors, Fillion has a gift for adding depth to what could have been a superficial character, letting you sense a layer of pain and grit right underneath Nick's flightiness without diminishing the "bad-boy charm," as his new partner puts it, of his fun-loving playboy.

It helps, by the way, that the writers have placed Nick in a household with his daughter and his mother, each designed to ensure he comes across as more sympathetic than annoying.

His bright-but-not-bratty daughter (Molly Quinn) provides support, while his Broadway star mother (an entertainingly grand Susan Sullivan) brings him back to earth and lets us see why being a better parent is one of Nick's drives.

As for Katic, she may overplay her character's stern annoyance at first, but she loosens up in later episodes. Plus, she's an incredibly beautiful woman, which helps hold your attention until the wittier side comes to the fore and may distract you from the fact that her co-workers have yet to emerge from the bland background.

The plots vary in quality: A future story involving a dead nanny is a little better than tonight's opener; another involving a body in a rug is a little worse.

None of the episodes is likely to keep you up at night puzzling out the intricacies of the mystery, but they won't bore you or insult your intelligence. Castle exists to exploit the appeal of its stars and the amusing byplay between their characters, and it does that with admirable efficiency.

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